Politicians

Ancient Greek

Pericles

Athenian statesman and general (c.495-429 BC). He led Athens through its Golden Age, paid citizens f

Pyrrhus

King of Epirus (r. 307-302 BC; 297-272 BC) and Hellenistic warlord whose costly defeats of Rome at H

ancient_egyptian

Cleopatra

Last pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt (69-30 BC). The first of her Greek dynasty to learn Egyptian, she al

byzantine

Justinian I

Eastern Roman emperor (r. 527-565). He reconquered the lost western empire, codified Roman law as th

ancient_indian

Ashoka

Third Mauryan emperor (r. c.268-232 BC), first to unify most of India. After Kalinga's carnage in 26

ancient_chinese

Wu Zetian

The only female emperor in Chinese history (624-705). Founded the Zhou dynasty in 690, reformed civi

Kangxi Emperor

Third Qing emperor (1654-1722). His 61-year reign — the longest in Chinese history — crushed the Thr

Qin Shi Huang

First emperor of China (259-210 BC). In 221 BC he unified the warring states, invented the title hua

ancient_near_east

Hammurabi

Sixth Amorite king of Babylon (c. 1810-1750 BC). Over 42 years he unified Mesopotamia and inscribed

Ashurnasirpal II

Third king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (r. 883-859 BCE). He carried Assyrian arms to the Mediterranea

Mehmed II

7th Ottoman sultan (1432-1481). At 21 he conquered Constantinople, ending the thousand-year Byzantin

Suleiman the Magnificent

Tenth Ottoman sultan (1494-1566), known in the West as the Magnificent and to his own subjects as Ka

Solomon

Third king of a united Israel (traditionally c. 970-931 BC). Son of David, builder of the First Temp

Mansa Musa

Ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire (c.1280-1337), who brought the West African polity to its territorial

Harun al-Rashid

Fifth Abbasid caliph (c. 763 - 24 March 809), reigning from September 786. Founded Baghdad's House o

ancient_persian

Antiochus III the Great

Sixth ruler of the Seleucid Empire (r. 223-187 BC), called "the Great" after his Anabasis (212-205 B

Cyrus the Great

Founder of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 600-530 BC). He absorbed the Median, Lydian, and Neo-Babylonian

Darius I

Third Achaemenid King of Kings (r. 522-486 BCE). He welded antiquity's largest realm — Thrace to the

ancient_roman

Hadrian

14th Roman emperor (r. 117-138). Hispania-born, he traded Trajan's expansion for fixed borders — Had

Antoninus Pius

15th Roman emperor (86-161), fourth of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and third of the Five Good Emperor

Sulla

Roman general and dictator (138-78 BC). The first Roman to march legions on Rome (88 and 82 BC), he

Tiberius

Second Roman emperor (42 BC-AD 37, r. 14-37). Stepson of Augustus who consolidated the Principate th

Constantine the Great

Roman emperor (r. 306-337) and the first Christian on the throne. Legalised Christianity (Edict of M

Diocletian

Roman emperor (244-311, r. 284-305) of Dalmatian origin who ended the Third Century Crisis via the T

Theodosius I

Roman emperor (347-395, r. 379-395), Theodosius the Great. The last to rule the entire empire, he ma

Marcus Junius Brutus

Roman senator and Stoic (85-42 BC). Led the liberatores who stabbed Caesar on the Ides of March 44 B

Pompey

Roman general (106-48 BC). Called Magnus by Sulla, he won three triumphs, cleared the Mediterranean

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Roman general and statesman of the late Republic (115-53 BC), often called the richest man in Rome.

Nero

Fifth Roman emperor (AD 37-68) and last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Guided in his first five year

Caligula

Third Roman emperor (AD 12-41) and member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. As a small child Caligula t

Cicero

Roman statesman and philosopher (106-43 BC). A novus homo who reached the consulship, he saved Rome

Augustus

First Roman emperor (63 BC-AD 14). Avenger of Caesar, victor at Actium, architect of the Principate.

Trajan

13th Roman emperor (53-117), second of the Five Good Emperors. Born in the Hispanic colony of Italic

Mark Antony

Late Republican Roman politician and general (83-30 BC). A relative and lieutenant of Julius Caesar,

asian_statesman

Ōkuma Shigenobu

Meiji-Taisho statesman (1838-1922). Twice prime minister, founder of Waseda University, champion of

Aurangzeb

Sixth Mughal emperor (1618-1707), known by the title Alamgir, "World-Seizer." In a 49-year reign he

Hu Jintao

CCP General Secretary and Chinese president (1942–). From 2002 to 2012 he and Wen Jiabao steered Chi

Itō Hirobumi

First Prime Minister of Japan (1841-1909) and chief drafter of the Meiji Constitution. Born a peasan

Shigeru Yoshida

Postwar PM of Japan (1946-47, 1948-54). Signed the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty and U.S.-Japan Se

Kakuei Tanaka

64th and 65th Prime Minister of Japan (1918-1993, in office 1972-1974). Rising from a poor Niigata f

Akbar

Third Mughal emperor (1542-1605). Turned Babur's foothold into a true empire via Rajput marriages, a

Lee Kuan Yew

Founding PM of Singapore (1959-1990; 1923-2015). Transformed a resource-poor city-state into one of

european_monarch

Franz Joseph I of Austria

Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (1830-1916, reigned 1848-1916). He took the throne at 18 duri

Catherine of Aragon

First wife of King Henry VIII of England (1485-1536). The youngest daughter of the Catholic Monarchs

James VI and I

First Stuart king of England and Scotland (1566-1625). Crowned James VI of Scotland at thirteen mont

Maria Theresa of Austria

Sole female ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1717-1780). Forty years on Austrian, Hungarian and Bohem

Henry VIII of England

Second Tudor king of England (1491-1547). After Rome refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of A

Charles V

Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (1500-1558). Through Habsburg dynastic inheritance Charles rule

Philip II of Spain

Habsburg King of Spain (1527-1598). Inheriting his father Charles V's Spanish empire in 1556 and add

Elizabeth I of England

Queen of England (r. 1558-1603), last Tudor monarch. Demoted to bastard when her mother Anne Boleyn

Charles I of England

Stuart king of England, Scotland and Ireland (1600-49). A divine-right monarch who ruled without Par

Louis XIV of France

King of France (r. 1643-1715, 72 years). The 'Sun King' embodied absolute monarchy, gathered the nob

Catherine II of Russia

Empress of Russia (r. 1762-1796). A German princess turned Russian autocrat by coup. She expanded to

Peter the Great

Tsar of Russia (r. 1682-1725). Six foot eight, an autocrat who worked as a Dutch carpenter under a f

european_statesman

Klemens von Metternich

Austrian foreign minister and chancellor (1773-1859). He chaired the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) an

Oliver Cromwell

First Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth (1599-1658). A Puritan gentry farmer who entered mi

Napoleon III

French president and Second Empire emperor (1808-1873). Nephew of Napoleon I, he won the 1848 vote,

Charles de Gaulle

French general and statesman (1890-1970). He led the Free French in WWII, founded the Fifth Republic

Otto von Bismarck

First chancellor of the German Empire (1815-1898). The "Iron Chancellor" unified Germany through thr

Margaret Thatcher

British prime minister (1925-2013). The first woman to lead a major Western European government (197

Konrad Adenauer

First chancellor of West Germany (1876-1967). Taking office at 73, he served 14 years and built reco

Mikhail Gorbachev

Last leader of the Soviet Union (1931-2022). Elected General Secretary of the Communist Party in 198

Tony Blair

British PM (1997-2007), Labour leader who won three consecutive elections. He brokered the Good Frid

Helmut Kohl

German chancellor (1982-1998), longest-serving in post-war Germany. He oversaw reunification, the Ma

Maximilien Robespierre

French revolutionary lawyer and statesman (1758-1794). A provincial barrister from Arras steeped in

Nikita Khrushchev

First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party (1953-1964) and Premier (1958-1964). A coal-miner's so

Josip Broz Tito

Founder and first lifelong president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1892-1980). A

William Pitt the Younger

British prime minister (1759-1806). At 24 the youngest ever, he led Britain through the Napoleonic W

independence_leader

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Founding president of the Republic of Turkey (1881-1938, president 1923-1938). As an Ottoman officer

Sun Yat-sen

First provisional president of the Republic of China (1866-1925), founder of the Kuomintang. After t

Theodor Herzl

Father of modern political Zionism (1860-1904). A Hungarian-Jewish journalist, the 1894 Dreyfus affa

Sukarno

First president of Indonesia, "Father of the Proclamation" (1901-1970). After a decade in Dutch jail

Jawaharlal Nehru

India's first Prime Minister and Gandhi's heir (1889-1964). A Cambridge-trained Brahmin barrister, h

Simón Bolívar

South American liberator (1783-1830). Born into Venezuelan creole wealth and orphaned young, he led

Nelson Mandela

South African anti-apartheid leader and first Black president (1918-2013). Sentenced to life for tre

Mahatma Gandhi

Indian independence leader (1869-1948). Known as Mahatma, he wielded satyagraha (truth-force) and ah

medieval_european

Frederick Barbarossa

Holy Roman emperor (1122-1190), the first Hohenstaufen to wear the imperial crown. After his electio

Edward the Confessor

Last reigning king of the House of Wessex (r. 1042-1066), the Anglo-Saxon ruler whose twenty-four-ye

Otto I the Great

First Holy Roman Emperor (912-973), king of East Francia from 936. He defeated the Magyars at Lechfe

Alfred the Great

King of Wessex (r. 871-899) and the only English-born monarch styled 'the Great'. He stopped the Vik

Cnut the Great

King of England (1016-1035), Denmark (1018-1035), and Norway (1028-1035), founder of the short-lived

Charlemagne

King of the Franks and first Carolingian emperor (c.742-814). In 46 years and 53 campaigns he unifie

Margaret of Anjou

Queen consort of Henry VI of England (1430-1482) and de facto leader of the Lancastrian faction in t

revolutionary_leader

Vladimir Lenin

Russian revolutionary (1870-1924). He led the October 1917 Revolution and founded the world's first

Fidel Castro

Cuban revolutionary leader, prime minister (1959-1976), president (1976-2008) and First Secretary of

Mao Zedong

Founder of the PRC and first CCP Chairman (1893-1976). A Hunan peasant who co-founded the Party in 1

us_president

George Washington

First president of the United States (1732-1799). A Virginia plantation owner who commanded the Cont

James K. Polk

11th US president (1795-1849). A dark-horse Democrat who, in one term, annexed Texas, settled Oregon

Theodore Roosevelt

26th US president (1858-1919). At 42 the youngest to take office, he led the Progressive Era, broke

Abraham Lincoln

16th US president (1809-1865). A self-educated frontier lawyer who became the first Republican presi

John F. Kennedy

35th US president (1917-1963). Youngest elected president and first Catholic in office. He navigated

Ronald Reagan

40th US president (1911-2004). A Hollywood actor turned California governor, he won 1980 in a landsl

Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th US President (1890-1969). As Supreme Allied Commander he led D-Day. As president (1953-61) he e

Thomas Jefferson

Third U.S. president (1743-1826) and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He wrote

James Madison

Fourth U.S. president (1751-1836), known as the "Father of the Constitution" and the "Father of the

Andrew Jackson

7th US president (1767-1845). A war hero of the Battle of New Orleans (1815) and the first Democrati

John Adams

Second president of the United States (1735-1826). Founding Father, Declaration drafter, first vice-

Harry S. Truman

33rd US President (1884-1972). Sworn in 82 days into his vice presidency after FDR's death, he appro

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

32nd US President (1882-1945) and the only one elected four times. He led America out of the Great D

Woodrow Wilson

28th U.S. president (1856-1924) and the only U.S. president to hold an earned Ph.D. As Princeton pro